Mills Park

Lights to be installed at Mills Park One week after Hagerstown City Councilman J. Wallace McClure expressed concern about Mills Park, City Light workers plan to install lighting there. City Light Manager Terry Weaver said three lights could go up as soon as today, weather permitting. Last Tuesday, McClure said there were problems with teenage sex and drinking, graffiti and possibly drug dealing at the park between Belview Avenue, Northern Avenue and the Morris Frock American Legion post.

HAGERSTOWN -- Nearly 20 residents living in the Mills Park area attended a Hagerstown City Council meeting Tuesday to oppose a proposal that would allow hiking trails to be built in their neighborhood. Belview Avenue resident Webster Harbaugh said his street is fairly quiet, with the exception of events at Mike Callas Stadium. He said he was concerned that bringing more foot traffic to the area would decrease his property value. "Nobody wants it," Harbaugh said. Other residents said the trails would drive away wildlife and cause basements to flood by removing existing trees that absorb water.

HAGERSTOWN -- The City of Hagerstown will seek state and federal funds to make improvements at Mills Park in the city's north end. City Engineer Rodney Tissue received permission from the City Council on Tuesday to pursue funding from the state and federal governments to pay for the project, which would include the construction of about 4,500 feet of trails for hikers and bicyclists. The project would cost $200,000 to $300,000, Tissue said. Hagerstown officials surveyed 38 residents who live near the underutilized Mills Park to determine how the space could be used more effectively, Tissue said.

Hagerstown City Councilman J. Wallace McClure wants Mills Park cleaned up. There has been teenage sex, teenage drinking, graffiti and possibly drug dealing going on at the park between Belview Avenue, Northern Avenue and the Morris Frock American Legion post, McClure said Tuesday night. The park is an embarrassment to the city and to the family of the late Mayor Herman L. Mills, McClure said. Mills' estate donated the land for the park. McClure said when he reported the park's condition to Public Works Department Manager Doug Stull, the park was cleaned up immediately.

HAGERSTOWN -- Hagerstown city officials will continue to seek a place to build an off-leash dog park. Cindy Blackstock, community development coordinator for the City of Hagerstown, told the City Council on Tuesday that a proposal to convert Mills Park into a park that would let people exercise and socialize their dogs failed to generate a sufficient amount of public support. "There was a lot of support for the concept, but not the location" at Mills Park, she said. About half the people who attended a meeting last spring to discuss the issue said transforming Mills Park into a dog park would lead to increased traffic, inadequate parking and noise from barking, Blackstock said.

HAGERSTOWN -- The City of Hagerstown is considering whether to seek federal or state money to build a $200,000 recreation trail on the north end of town. City Engineer Rodney Tissue, in presenting the proposal to the Hagerstown City Council during a work session Tuesday, said the trail would stretch from Mills Park to the American Legion on Northern Avenue. It would be about 10 feet wide and 1,000 feet long with ornamental lighting and a wetland crossing, he said. If the trail were built, the surface likely would be asphalt.

Several residents in Hagerstown's North End petitioned the city on Tuesday to install a gate at Mills Park, where they have complained of "loud, late-hour congregating. " The petition, signed by almost 40 residents, also asks that the park be closed at dusk rather than at 11 p.m., said Doug Stull, manager of the Department of Public Works. A gate would prevent vehicles, but not pedestrians, from entering the park, Stull said. In June, several North End neighbors took their concerns to a City Council meeting, where Police Chief Dale Jones said police had increased routine checks of the park.

by KEVIN G. GILBERT / staff photographer enlargement Mills Park was created as a haven for Hagerstown families seeking to escape from the rat race, but neighbors say their North End park has attracted an entirely different element. --cont from front page -- Unwanted guests have been defacing the park with graffiti and conducting what appear to be drug deals, said Willard Harper, 403 Belview Ave. "It has largely been taken over by the cell phone and beeper crowd," Harper told the Hagerstown City Council.

HAGERSTOWN -- Neighbors of a proposed off-leash dog park turned out in force at a community forum Thursday to argue the proposed Mills Park site does not have adequate space, parking or access to support a dog park. Hagerstown officials organized the forum to gather input on an idea to build two fenced enclosures in Mills Park where owners could exercise and socialize their dogs off-leash. More than 30 people attended the forum, including at least five supporters of the proposal.

The City of Hagerstown and the Rotary Club of Long Meadows hosted a rededication ceremony July 1 for the Rotary Club of Long Meadows Park. Rotarians, Antietam Garden Club, Morris Frock Post 42 American Legion members, city officials, Boy Scout Troop 103, Cub Pack 103 and community neighbors assembled for the ceremony. The rededication celebrated the successful public-private partnership that has contributed to the park's success throughout the last several years. The Rotary Club of Long Meadows Park was approved by the mayor and city council in July 2000 under the city's previous Adopt-A-Park program.

Fencing has been obtained, but the location for what would be Berkeley County's first dog park has yet to be finalized. Ambrose Park in Martinsburg is being eyed for the project, and Martinsburg-Berkeley County Parks & Recreation Board Executive Director R. Stephen “Steve” Catlett told board members other locations are being explored. Recreation officials received interest from residents who indicated they take their animals to the dog park at Jim Barnett Park in Winchester, Va., There are no public dog parks in Hagerstown or Washington County, Md., but a proposal for a dog park in Hagerstown's north end has been proposed.

HAGERSTOWN -- Nearly 20 residents living in the Mills Park area attended a Hagerstown City Council meeting Tuesday to oppose a proposal that would allow hiking trails to be built in their neighborhood. Belview Avenue resident Webster Harbaugh said his street is fairly quiet, with the exception of events at Mike Callas Stadium. He said he was concerned that bringing more foot traffic to the area would decrease his property value. "Nobody wants it," Harbaugh said. Other residents said the trails would drive away wildlife and cause basements to flood by removing existing trees that absorb water.

HAGERSTOWN -- The City of Hagerstown will seek state and federal funds to make improvements at Mills Park in the city's north end. City Engineer Rodney Tissue received permission from the City Council on Tuesday to pursue funding from the state and federal governments to pay for the project, which would include the construction of about 4,500 feet of trails for hikers and bicyclists. The project would cost $200,000 to $300,000, Tissue said. Hagerstown officials surveyed 38 residents who live near the underutilized Mills Park to determine how the space could be used more effectively, Tissue said.

HAGERSTOWN -- The City of Hagerstown is considering whether to seek federal or state money to build a $200,000 recreation trail on the north end of town. City Engineer Rodney Tissue, in presenting the proposal to the Hagerstown City Council during a work session Tuesday, said the trail would stretch from Mills Park to the American Legion on Northern Avenue. It would be about 10 feet wide and 1,000 feet long with ornamental lighting and a wetland crossing, he said. If the trail were built, the surface likely would be asphalt.

HAGERSTOWN -- Hagerstown city officials will continue to seek a place to build an off-leash dog park. Cindy Blackstock, community development coordinator for the City of Hagerstown, told the City Council on Tuesday that a proposal to convert Mills Park into a park that would let people exercise and socialize their dogs failed to generate a sufficient amount of public support. "There was a lot of support for the concept, but not the location" at Mills Park, she said. About half the people who attended a meeting last spring to discuss the issue said transforming Mills Park into a dog park would lead to increased traffic, inadequate parking and noise from barking, Blackstock said.

HAGERSTOWN -- Neighbors of a proposed off-leash dog park turned out in force at a community forum Thursday to argue the proposed Mills Park site does not have adequate space, parking or access to support a dog park. Hagerstown officials organized the forum to gather input on an idea to build two fenced enclosures in Mills Park where owners could exercise and socialize their dogs off-leash. More than 30 people attended the forum, including at least five supporters of the proposal.

HAGERSTOWN -- The City of Hagerstown will hold a public forum tonight at Northern Middle School to discuss a proposal that would convert a portion of Mills Park into an off-leash dog park with two fenced-in areas. Community Development Coordinator Cindy Blackstock said the forum will be an informational session in which city officials intend to present the proposal and then solicit feedback from the audience. "It's nothing that will happen in the imminent future," Blackstock said.

A portion of Mills Park in the City of Hagerstown's North End is being considered for an off-leash dog park. City Community Development Coordinator Cindy Blackstock told the Hagerstown City Council on Tuesday that development of the dog park would include fencing, double-gated entries, two separate spots for large and small dogs, and watering areas. The estimated cost would be about $45,000 and paid for, in part, with money from Program Open Space and Capital Improvement Projects, she said.